If only I could type it in a crisper way than this
to spell out why I try and play
a buffer-role and sit
guessing at the aspirations,
how to curb chance-machinations
of our absurd, undeterred techno-globalization.

This age for cheap is offering
to keep open the gate
the flood of infotainment
acting less like food than bait
only certain spaces in which we can feed and wait.

A storm gathers just off horizon
its soundless thunder rumbles
its dark clouds heavy glint of gold,
but what rocks it holds would care
to serenely come and tumble down
on heads that do not glance around?
From this we will need shelter or at least a wary mind…

So it is that I and accompanying allies strain and scrutinize,
future-wise puzzle-piecing new maps to help us navigate a world
brimming full of bullshit and apparently-free crap.
A legacy we hope to leave
(my part albeit incomplete)
to guide those unborn future flocks of man and
the info-shocked, sadly-vision-blocked souls living
who may yet know to use discretion sometimes
in keeping open for too long their minds for just a dime.

All of us, don’t we need sound notification on the nature of
our own bloating meta-predatorary creation?
It seems something is waiting to snatch up idle ripe minds
to be its bio-platforms, do its ghostly calculations,
become its meme-arrays and unknowing-slaves…
The risk is if we end up biting every byte we see
(we think this data-lunch is free)
effectively lambs feeding from its trap we will be!

Digitally-versed, the buffers’ and shepherds’ work
is to clear a path wide enough for sheep to skirt temptation,
to keep them away from the ever-swelling impulse-inertia,
their desire for satiation
that leads them to trough in underheated isolated chambers
from which all but pre-made thought can escape un-rearranged.

Beware these rains inside will fall
black stones straight through the roof,
and the sheep who do not hear the call,
those too media-jacked-in and enthralled,
will be submerged and drown aloof.

• Capture the most captivating of materials, content, articles and more.
• Find the most fascinating facts, images, and information available.
• Integrate with self and website the most profound wisdom and stories I can.

Captivating materials and articles should read like poetry, delectable, fluent, smooth, accessible. Fascinating information should be transformative or enlightening. Images should be beautiful or awe-inspiring. Meta-integration-worthy wisdom must be capable or proven to have stood the passage of time and reach across cultures. All new content should be exemplary (from nature, humanity, science, art, literature) or illustrative (of important trends, patterns, cycles, etc.).

FYI, here are some of the places I generally like to look…

Quotes collections and websites – BrainyQuotes, Thinkexist, and Wisdom Quotes.

Social news aggregators and engines – Stumbleupon, Reddit, and Slashdot.

In books I read, the majority being sci-fi novels (and I’d argue that I generally pick very good ones). Sci-fi favorites from recent years: Foundation Trilogy/Series, Ender’s Game(Series), The Algebraist, Pushing Ice, House of Suns, Accelerando, and The Wind-Up Girl. Non-fiction favorites from recent years: What Technology Wants, The Next 100 Years, The Narcissism Epidemic, and The Evolving Self.

And of course I must mention TED.

I plan to pursue growth and thrival-fuel through these means. Please share your thoughts with me on other great sources of news and other fascinating or captivating information…

This is how I plan to…

differentiate & integrate,

explore & reflect,

discover & synthesize,

and widgetize & optimize ; )

A WARNING TO SELF AND READER ALIKE

Do not forget that all this hunting for paths through which to expand the mind, improve the intellect, evolve the self, (the same goes for entertaining yourself), that too much time spent on transistasis (change/evolution) equates to problems with homeostasis (the renewal, detox, and settling of physical and psychological selves).

As a rule, you must stand up and move your body around every hour if you are on the computer for more than two hours per day, and who isn’t these days, right? This is very important; you must train your body as you hone your mind — they go hand in hand. If you sit for too long reading or surfing the internet, your immune system and your cardiovascular system go into hibernation and blood vessels and muscles (as well as general well-being) atrophy. Watch out for the whole, holistic self. Meditation, whether sitting-emptying-the-mind style or walking-around-reflecting-on-things, is also to be considered essential, as is being with friends and family, which is very hard to do indeed when plugged in…

This is a mostly personally relevant list of 10 countries I thought I ought to travel to or live in at some point. However, it does contain a few good general insights and some interesting cross-referenced information from the Index of Economic Freedom and the Freedom on the Net report (links below). For example, you may be interested to know that Estonia is among the top 15 economically free countries in the world, but that it also tops the charts in press freedom and has the world’s greatest internet freedom.

I have included crosses (†) to indicate my own interest in the culture of countries listed where applicable, in addition to minuses (–) to show places that I am not interested in going to or spending that much time in (for now). For example, the United States is ranked 9th in Economic Freedom, extremely high in Press and Internet Freedom, but nonetheless it is my country of origin and therefore less interesting to visit than many of the others. For this reason it gets a minus. Note that I am also very interested in learning other languages and that I studied Spanish and Japanese for many years. Hence, Australia is less interesting, while Japan, Chile, Brazil, and others are more so.

Press Freedom I haven’t included but hope to in future editions of my list; This is something that is, of course, intimately connected with Internet Freedom and very important for every nation on Earth. It is another attribute that, for me, increases the gravity and draw of a place. If you are curious about Press Freedom as well right now, know that Freedom House publishes both reports: (PRESS FREEDOM) and (FREEDOM ON THE NET 2011).

This list is comprised of well-established, demonstrably-free societies that also happen to interest me personally. In later lists I hope to include information from the Human Development Index, Press Freedom statistics, and more.

Top 10 Thrive Countries for 2011

1. United States
2. Germany (†)
3. Hong Kong
4. Switzerland (†)
5. Estonia (†)
6. Japan (††)
7. Singapore
8. Chile (††)
9. Brazil (††)
10. Australia

Thrive Countries, 1st Issue (PDF)

Read the rest of this entry »

• Read 100 novels (and enjoy them!)
• Read 100 non-fiction books (and enjoy!)
• Speak at least 2 languages (and translate for someone that only speaks one!)
• Understand the conditions where you live by seeing other places.
• Understand the lives of others by living and working with as many people as possible.
• Lead a life, any kind of life, as best you can so that children may grow up with role models.
• Be ready to share your heart, be ready to be hurt, be ready to forgive and to move on.
• Keep your chin up, shake hands with conviction, be assertive, follow your dreams.
• Contribute your talents to educate, entertain, and nurture others.
• Take care of your mind and body: Never stop learning; never stop moving; never stop meeting new people.

Now I believe you are ready!

never doubt your intuition
is like saying never doubt your strengths…
you know strengths turn into dust after a certain point, right?
(more precisely, it is at the point which we lovingly refer to
as “the dust point” that your strengths turn to dust…)

ahh – dusty, dusty strength…
inherent in your heart is a beast that’s not yet dusty.
so release the beast of intuition!
for it to devour your confusion and woes.

never doubt your intuition!
in it’s theoretical state,
is what i meant to say.
is what i meant to say..
is what i meant to say…

never doubt the power of your intuition
is like saying never doubt the ability of stupid people to band together,
and do much much stupider things in the aggregate.

your intuition can be really stupid sometimes,
has anyone ever told you that?

but still you, ideally, should never doubt the theoretical power
of your theoretical beast-of-an-intuition intuition,
or so they say…

’cause there’s times when you could sit around
not knowing what to do
thinking about dusty beasts until-you-turn-to-dust.
and then your strengths really would have turned to dust,
which is precisely what i was just trying to warn you about:
over-italicizing your in-tuition !!!

so just use your intuitional beast wisely,
with low-level italics and a dust-busting broom in hand,
but be wise about it, you intuitive wise-guy, you…

~

That’s all for now.
Don’t forget to tune in next week for our installment on:
“Never Doubting Your Own Wisdom”!